Building new network will start in spring

When complete, it will deliver high-speed mobile data services to 92% of Mexicans

0shares

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Construction of the first stage of Mexico’s new shared telecommunications network, which will eventually deliver high-speed mobile data services to 92% of the population, is set to start before the onset of spring.

Communications and Transportation Secretary Gerardo Ruiz told a press conference yesterday that in one year’s time the US $7 billion network is to deliver mobile data services to 30% of the country.

Grupo Altán, the consortium that was awarded the contract last fall to install the new telecommunications infrastructure, said the company has a one-year program that calls for the installation of seven or eight towers per day, weekends included.

Altán president Eugenio Galdón said a large number of companies have shown interest in using the network, both telecommunications operators with their own networks and foreign firms interested in offering their services in Mexico.

The president of Promtel, the firm in charge of managing the network once it is operational, told the gathering that the 30%-coverage mark would be accomplished by March 31 next year.

Fernando Borjón added that one-quarter of Mexico’s Pueblos Mágicos, about 30, will be included in the first stage of the deployment.

Secretary Ruiz added that Altán will eventually provide coverage to 92.2% of the Mexican population, or over 110 million people.

“The shared network is the most important telecommunications policy enacted in our country . . . and will help reach the most important goals of the sector’s reforms,” he stated.